help a HAMBER seal up a drooling sbc

As noted in a previous post, work on the '57 is beginning again and i am seeking your suggestions.

My 406 is sound as far as mechanicals go, but seems to be drooling vital fluids all over the place. Being that working on a "greasy" engine is one of my pet peeves, give me your best recommendation for gasket company and your favorite set to seal this beast back up.

Again, thanks in advance for your suggestions. Matt

 

A hard part suggestion: If pan (also front cover!) is aftermarket stamping, discard. After about 1980, Chevy started using a pair of rails along the pan bolts to support the thin metal and provide better grip, These were first offered for the first blocks with dipstick on the opposite side from yours, so have to be cut and used in sections...don't think they made any for the early '79-back blocks.

 

Good quality gaskets and clean, smooth surfaces are the keys to a good seal, but here's another.

Get a caulk gun and a tube of 100 percent clear silicone. Once you've reinstalled the oil pan and timing cover, run a bead of the silicone completely around both of them.

Be neat. Get it deep in the groove, and clean the remainder using a small sealant spoon or even your finger. Some spit on your finger of choice will help create a smooth sealant surface and will also serve to force the silicone into the gap between the block and the pan/cover.

If you do this carefully, you'll end up with a leakproof seal that is hard to even notice.

I learned this in one of the race engine shops I worked in. There was no room for leaks on the race track, and this final step ensured none of our engines ever leaked.

I started doing this to all the engines I built, and they don't leak either. The clear silicone works well, is oil resistant, and is not expensive. It's also pretty easy to clean up should you have to replace the pan or timing cover.

This is where most leaks occur. If you are careful with the front and rear crank seals and do this silicone seal on the pan and cover, you should be all set.

~Scotch~

 

Make sure you have adequate crankcase ventilation, you can use all the goop you want and it will push oil past every gasket if it can't breathe. A PCV valve and a good breather should be all it takes unless you're turning a lot of RPM.

 

One thing alot of people forget to do is plug the hole thats used to hold up the fuel pump rod (for when you do a fuel pump change). This can make quite a mess, and can be tough to trace if you aren't aware of it.

 

Never under any circumstances use silicon on a cork gasket. It will split the gasket and make a mess. My Dad got on a silicon kick one time and put a few pans on using only silicon. Ran a nice bead all the way around, let it set and tightened the bolts. I had to destroy the pan to get it off. Not to mention getting into your oil pickup screen.
I glue the gasket to the block using trim adheasive and put a dab of silicon on the corners to seal the rubber to the gasket, put the pan on and that's it. Very rare do you ever get a leak. Same with valve covers. glue to the covers and stick them on dry. Any oil or silicone will give lubrication and cause the gasket to split. Glue intake gaskets to the heads and run a bead of silicon for the ends. I also put a thin coat of silocon on the end surfaces to give a little tack coat to help it adhear. That's a good tip in the fuel pump shaft lock hole in the front of the block too.
Jeff

 

All good advise. However, "clock" the crank seals so the ends don't match up with the caps.

 

I dont use silicone, I use Right Stuff from permetex. Its an adhesive that fills voids, as opposed to silicone, which fills without adhering well.

 

Here's an interesting final check/repair of small problems technique I heard from a crafty old timer. I have never used this, but I think it makes sense. Obviously, it would be for use after doing a decent basic job...
With oil drained, plug any air openings into pan-valley-valve covers like breathers or filler caps. Run hose from PCV (which could be an improvised one stuffed into a filler pipe on an early motor) to correspondin attachment on another car with engine running.
Using a piece of hose held to your ear, follow each gasketed joint, listening for hissing from the leaks. Smear a bit of silicon goo on problem areas, and it will be sucked right into the gap!

 

Thanks, everyone. All really good tips. I would still like to hear about the brands you like best. Fel-Pro, Cometic, Mr. Gasket???. How about cork vs rubber vs composite?

 

I think FelPro is best. Also depends on what you're doing. For a SBC, I'd go cork if necessary. Rubber is hard to control, and oozes out over time.

 

Also...stay away from those very commonly available, cheap chrome aftermarket timing chain covers.
The location pin holes are about 1/8 inch off and cause the cover to sit so it does not seal right and leak like crazy along the bottom edge.
They have been making them this way for decades and never get around to correcting the problem.

 

This is going to sound whacked-out.... but I guarantee it works. Throw away your RTV and go to your windshield-man / paint-body supplier. Get some 3M Windshield Urethane. Put your engine together with that stuff, and say bye-bye to leaks. Your oil pan bolts can fall out and the shit will still hold.

 

...Also the key to using cheap chrome sheet metal engine parts... Mask off the side you see with duct tape and then sand-blast all of the gasket surfaces. The chrome is so slick that the sealant won't get a good bite. it will when it's chewed up a little.

 

I did that once when I did a cam change and the timing cover leaked. It worked. The only thing I did wrong is I used a vacumme cleaner, and sprayed carb clean into the leak to get the oil cleaned out of the crevis. I started smelling the cleaner coming through the vacumme cleaner and stopped, but I could have had a fire. The big thing with silicon is to have no oil or it won't stick.
Jeff

 

What about if your intake manifold is chromed? I've had fits with chrome valve covers in past.
The truck shop I work in uses Permatex Right Stuff to seal differentials to axle housings. We have stopped oil leaks since using that product. I'm afraid that stuff might be too aggresive on an intake manifold, takes a lot of force to break loose from the sealer.